…what is the one thing in this world that I would give up everything for?

The time in life is late. The sun is setting. There is still light in the sky however, still time to ponder…

…what is the one thing in this world that I would give up everything for?

What really matters in your life? What are you earning all that money for?

Dusk and its companion, Twilight, was generated from two sources. One being listening to Marjorie Jackson-Nelson saying she would give up everything – Olympic medals, material wealth – just to have her husband back. The other from the Gospel of Matthew in the Bible –

“..the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all he had and bought it.” (Matt 13:45-46 KJV)

Which brings us back to…

…what is the one thing in this world that I would give up everything for?

Twilight….

The time in life is late. The sea is now dark. There is little light left in the sky, the question is more urgent…

…what is the one thing in this world that I would give up everything for?

What really, really matters in your life? How are you choosing to spend your days?

The sea is often a metaphor for the subconscious. The saying” A ship in the harbour is safe, but that is not what ships are built for” got us moving but now we’re “all at sea”. Our bearings lost, the reason we left port forgotten. And time is passing. The light is fading.

… what really matters?

…what is the one thing in this world that I would give up everything for?

Twilight and its companion Dusk invite you to sit a while and contemplate.

Travelling through the outback can bring long stretches of similar landscape without much relief. These periods are endured in order to reach something… Something that makes hours of bare plains worth the price. We take these “somethings” and stitch them together to make memories of a life.

Much like in life – stretches of “nothing time” – that we barely remember but the calendar shows us has past. It’s May – do you remember what you were doing on this date back in February? It’s likely that you will remember the somethings… gatherings, embarrassments, fragments. The “somethings” in between the long stretches of nothing.

“We are players, but do not direct the play. Crucial decisions were made for us, before we were born. …Even the decisions we make for ourselves seldom take us where we meant to go.”
Barbara Brown Taylor – An Altar in the World

Yet we still choose to set out afresh. Hope – hope of transformation – of our lives, ourselves, our world, pushes us on to dare to take another step.

This piece is in reaction to the self-help movement that likes to believe that we have greater control of our lives than we actually do. Yet, one does not choose our place of birth, parents, and circumstances. To be born in Nepal, or Vanuatu or Yemen would make a big difference to one’s life journey.

As we set out along our chosen path, only ever able to see a small way ahead, don’t despair about falling off and getting wet or ending up elsewhere. Embrace the journey, adapt to the changes and just maybe that hoped for transformation will take place.

This piece will challenge some as it not a “pretty picture” exercise. Have a read about what I was working out while painting it.

Families are not Puzzles

“Families are not Puzzles”

By Susan Pietsch

Acrylic on canvas, 90 x 120cm

For Sale: $800 (not including shipping)

The story behind the piece…

This painting challenges the stereotypical landscape painting. To make sense of any of the landscapes one needs to concentrate on only one area at a time. These landscapes do not sit comfortably side by side… just like family members. Within each profile resides a landscape representing the soul of a family member. Similar, connected but different from each other, the landscapes portray the richness that exists within the family. It doesn’t, however, join together to one coherent image like a jigsaw puzzle – because families are not like puzzles…

Or the Waltons, or the Brady Bunch. Differences don’t resolve, they must simply be lived with. People embraced for their uniqueness, seen for who they are rather than who we want them to be. Families are not like jigsaw puzzles and that’s ok.

As narrative is an important part of my work I’m going to share with you with stories behind the pieces from my latest exhibition “The Landscape of Thought”

“Aspects of Landscape 1”

By Susan Pietsch

Acrylic on canvas, 110 x 80cm, now in a private collection

The story behind the piece…

We visit all kinds of places in our travels, bringing with us our own language born out of a different place. We apply this foreign language over each new place we encounter without allowing the native language of the place to speak. Without stopping to listen, to take in the place both close up and at large.

When I view a landscape, I take it in, in parts. There may be a memory of an overview but also those parts that I focused on: rocks, pools, sky. Overlaid onto this landscape is the language I use to describe it. It doesn’t come from the landscape I’m viewing but from places of my past. Sometimes the language meshes and intertwines with the landscape, other times it’s incomprehensible and makes no sense in relation to what it’s trying to describe. But each time I visit a place this language of landscape expands and grows richer, allowing me to make more sense of what I’m experiencing.

My first solo exhibition featuring paintings and painted Scherenschnitte (paper cuts) is on from May 16. The opening is at 3pm on May 16 so would love to see you there to help me launch it. My “paper” cuts are actually made from Lutradur in some cases so something a little different. Location – London Offices – 30 Florence st, Newstead. Funny thing is that if you google the location it says its Newstead but the car GPS insisted it was Teneriffe instead! Must be right on the border…

Set of two greeting cards featuring my work from the Place-Meant Exhibition are now available in my store. The cards are blank inside allowing you to add your own message to suit the occasion. Click HERE to purchase!

The Textales exhibition “Place-Meant” has two weeks left – open at Hughes Gallery, Fullarton Centre, Fullarton Rd, Fullarton, South Australia. Pop in and have a chat to one of the artists on duty and check out the piece about in real life. The shadow play on the wall is excellent.

An exhibition of textile artists, work will be a variety of pieces around the theme which include 2-D and 3-D pieces. Come and see us at the demonstrations morning (the Fullarton Centre market is also on then too) or join us for the official opening at 3pm!